Planning for and / or assessment of an ablation procedure on one or both carotid bodies or carotid body chemoreceptors or carotid body nerves to treat patients having a sympathetically mediated cardiac, metabolic, and pulmonary disease (e.g. hypertension, CHF, diabetes, sleep disordered breathing) resulting from peripheral chemoreceptor hypersensitivity, carotid body hyperactivity, high carotid body afferent nerve signaling or heightened sympathetic activation.